1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates generally to a sheet film package and a method of and a device for loading sheet film, and more particularly to a package for containing a plurality of sheet films, the package including a flexible light-shielding cover member, and a method of and a device for loading sheet films into an image recording apparatus or the like under bright conditions by inserting the light-shielding cover member into a passage defined in the image recording apparatus and peeling the cover member off the package therein.
2. Description of the prior art
X-ray films are widely used in the medical field for photographing objects such as human bodies with X rays for medical diagnosis. For photographing an object on such an X-ray film, it has been customary to load the X-ray film into an X-ray photographing device under a light-shielded environment and expose the emulsion layer of the film directly to an X ray having passed through the object for recording the image of the object thereon.
There has recently been developed and widely used especially in the medical field a radiation image recording and reproducing system for producing the radiation-transmitted image of an object using a stimulable phosphor material capable of emitting light upon exposure to stimulating rays. When a certain phosphor is exposed to a radiation such as X-rays, .alpha.-rays, .beta.-rays, .gamma.-rays, cathode rays, or ultraviolet rays, the phosphor stores a part of the energy of the radiation. When the phosphor exposed to the radiation is subsequently exposed to stimulating rays such as visible light, the phosphor emits light in proportion to the stored energy of the radiation. The phosphor exhibiting such a property is referred to as a "stimulable phosphor".
In the radiation image recording and reproducing system employing such a stimulable phosphor, the radiation image information of an object such as a human body is stored in a sheet having a layer of stimulable phosphor, and then the stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned with stimulating rays to cause the stimulable phosphor sheet to emit light representative of the radiation image. The emitted light is then photoelectrically detected to produce an image information signal that is electrically processed for generating image information which is recorded on a recording medium such as a photosensitive material or displayed as a visible image on a CRT or the like.
The visible image thus produced may be recorded on a recording medium by an image recorder such as an image output laser printer, for example. In the image output laser printer, photographic films stored as a recording material in a magazine are loaded,aand taken out one by one by a sheet delivery device such as a suction disk. Thereafter, the film is exposed to a laser beam modulated by an electric signal produced from the stimulable phosphor sheet for recording an image on the film. The exposed film is then transferred into an automatic developing device and processed thereby to develop the image. The film is thereafter placed on a stack of previously processed films.
When loading the films into the image output laser printer, they must not be exposed to extraneous light. There is however a strong demand for the loading of films under bright conditions such as in an ordinary bright room, and various xethods have been proposed for loading films in bright environments. One such method is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Utility Model Publication No. 56(1981)-5141.
The proposed method will be described with reference to FIGS. 1a and 1b of the accompanying drawings. FIG. 1a shows a film package 2 to be loaded into an X-ray photographing device. The film package 2 includes a light-shielded or sunproof container 6 in the form of a box having an opening 4. The light-shielded container 6 contains a pluraltiy of unexposed films 10 protected by cardboard 8. A flexible light-shielding member 12 is applied over the opening 4 in light-shielding relation to protect the unexposed films 10 from exposure to extraneous light. One end of the flexible light-shielding member 12 is curved upwardly and has an engagement hole 12a defined near its edge.
The film package 2 of the above construction is housed in a magazine 14 as shown in FIG. 1b and positioned by a storage unit 16. The magazine 14 has a shutter 18 having an engagement pin 20 mounted on one end thereof. After the engagement pin 20 has engaged in the hole 12a of the flexible light-shielding member 12, the magazine 14 is loaded into an X-ray photographing device (not shown), and the other end of the shutter 18 is pulled out of the magazine 14 by fingers. As a result, the flexible light-shielding member 12 is peeled off the container 6 by the pin 20 engaging the hole 12a, and the opening 4 is opened in the X-ray photographing device. The uppermost unexposed film 10 is then attracted by a suction device 22 and delivered through the opening 4 into a given photographing position.
With the illustrated conventional method, however, the dedicated magazine 14 must be used to store the film package 2. This magazine must be of a rugged construction capable of withstanding stresses due to repeated attachment and removal thereof, and hence is considerably heavy. Therefore, it is laborsome for the operator to load and unload the magazine. The magazine is also considerably expensive since it has a shutter mechanism. Where various films of different sizes are to be employed, there must be used as many dedicated magazines as the number of those different film sizes, and the cost of manufacture is so high that they are economically infeasible in reality.